Jury selection is beginning Monday in the murder and kidnapping trial of three men charged with killing a high-level marijuana dealer who went missing last year in Albany.

Prosecutors allege Ricky “L” Thornton, 41, Jason “Jay” Benn,” 38, and Louis “God” Chaney, also known as “UB,” abducted and killed 41-year-old Steven Jackson of Guilderland, known as “Swag,” who disappeared outside a marijuana storage location at 40 Parkwood St. about 1 p.m. on June 13, 2010.

Authorities contend Jackson awaiting a shipment of 500 pounds of marijuana when he was kidnapped for money and drugs. They say the kidnappers later went to Jackson’s home on Stoneridge Court, while Jackson remained at the pot stash house on Parkwood Street address.

At some point, they say, Jackson died. An indictment alleged Benn dumped the body “beneath the surface, where it was unlikely to be found.” He is additionally accused of possessing stolen property because he allegedly used the victim’s credit card on the day of the kidnapping at a Price Chopper supermarket on Central Avenue.

The case broke open in January when Albany County prosecutors announced the kidnapping indictments of Benn, as well as Gino “G” Uzzell and Anthony “Inf” Davis.

Uzzell, who later pleaded guilty to conspiracy, faces 7 to 21 years in prison. Davis faces 10 years under his guilty plea to second-degree kidnapping. Both have agreed to testify at the trial.

Authorities say Uzzell, a drug partner of Jackson, initially targeted him for robbery.

Authorities say the kidnappers watchd Jackson on Parkwood Street — using a GPS tracking device — in conspiracy between Feb. 1 and June 16, 2010.

The initial arrests followed a six-month investigation that revealed possible ties to the disappearances of Ashley Marie Carroll, 24, a Troy woman last seen May 6 after being dropped off by a friend in West Hill; and Donald Green, 50, of Schenectady, known as “Uncle Noonie,” who was last seen Feb. 26, 2010, exiting the Silver Slipper bar in Albany.

Any connections to those cases is not expected to surface at the trial.